Customer Reviews

How to Write a Dick: A Guide for Writing Fictional Sleuths from a Couple of Real-Life Sleuths

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I was clueless about PIs but I had a plot that wouldn't leave me alone without a detective character. The title of this one made it a no-brainer to check out, and it looked promising so I bought it. It was really helpful to me. I'm pretty paranoid about writing about professions I don't know anything about, but I feel pretty good about getting the details right this time. Great resource.

I'm an experienced writer, but I'm new to mystery and suspense. How to Write a Dick is exactly the kind of reference I need -- full of great information presented in an easy to understand format. The book has all the insider details a writer needs to make her story authentic. Collins and Kaufman make the book very entertaining with just the right touch of humor. It's a great book for anyone who wants to know more about what goes on in the life of a private investigator.

I took a class last year from these authors (Coleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman). It was fun, entertaining and really informative about private investigators and their work. Those of us in the class were either newbie writers or published authors, and these instructors (the authors of How to Write a Dick) were really helpful. I'd heard they were releasing this book, so I figured if it was as good as their class it'd be a good buy. And it is. Has oodles of information about how private eyes investigate cases, the tools they might use, even the many different types of private eyes there are. If you're a writer, and you want some background or ideas for your sleuth story, I highly recommend this book!

HOW TO WRITE A DICK is an accessible, up-to-date guide to the realities of P.I. work uniquely tuned in to what fiction writers want/need to know. If it had been around when I was fiction editor for THE THRILLING DETECTIVE WEB SITE, my job would have been much easier.

This is an excellent resource for writers who want to get up to speed quickly on the art and science of private investigation--or for anyone else who's simply curious about what PIs do and how they do it. Kaufman and Collins, who run Highlands Investigations in Denver, introduce the various areas of work that investigators are hired for, from child custody disputes to financial fraud, explain work methods ranging from internet research to sorting through trash, and banish myths (unlike fictional sleuths, real-life PIs rarely carry guns). As a writer, I especially liked their lists of personality and character traits best suited to each type of PI work.

I can find all kinds of books that tell me how to craft a story or write a mystery, but none that helped me write my pet detective heroine. I even called a private investigator in my state and asked him some questions, but I needed more help than that. A friend told me about How to Write a Dick, and it's just what I need. Has a section on pet detectives, too!

I've been a PI for many years. I didn't buy this book because I thought I'd learn something new. I bought it cause I hoped these guys wrote about stuff that would help writers write about real PIs not Sam Spade clones. And these guys do. Plus the title makes me laugh. Writers do yourself a favor and buy this book so you can get PIs right.